thoughts-from-the-canyon

Jamba Juice: Buy One, Get One Free

Sat, 25 May 2013 01:15:27 +0100

Follow this link for a buy one, get one free Jamba Juice smoothy. Coupon good between today and June 2.

http://jambajuice.com/campaigns/may-strawberry-coupon

H/T Dan's Deals

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What Side is the Damn Fuel Door On?

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:46:11 +0100

If, like me, you have a perfect record of never guessing correctly which side of your rental car the fuel door is on, this tip from Fly Gracefully is for you...simply look at your fuel gauge and there should be an arrow pointing to either side. That's the side your fuel door is on. I really feel like an idiot right about now for not knowing this!

Look What $43.8 Million Buys These Days

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:28:48 +0100

I'm no art expert, but paying $43.8 million for a pair of blue canvases seems just a bit freaking insane high.

Record Auction Price for Barnett Newman, $43.8 Million, Is Set at Sotheby’s

In a hushed salesroom at Sotheby’s on Tuesday night, a packed audience watched intently as six bidders fought over Barnett Newman’s “Onement VI,” a deep blue abstract composition from 1953. The winner, a telephone bidder speaking Italian, ended up paying $43.8 million, a record price for the artist’s work at auction — beating out the previous record of $22.4 million, paid just a year ago for another canvas in the same series. Faint applause could be heard from the onlookers.

Read the rest here.

H/T Kuppy's Leather Apron Letter

$15 Off Mastercard Giftcards at Safeway

Sun, 12 May 2013 18:55:53 +0100

If you buy groceries at Safeway, you may be signed-up for their Just4U program, which are personalized digital coupons. Once in your Just4U account, click on the offers you're interested in and the coupons will be automatically generated when you scan the associated product. No scissors and no clipping required, pretty slick.

Right now, there's an offer for $9.05 in Free Money, by purchasing a $100 Mastercard Giftcard. Each card costs $5.95 and Safeway is giving you $15 off, for a net purchase price of $90.95 for the $100 card. The offer is, unfortunately, limited to one per account but I'll be on the look-out for these offers in the future.

If you're going grocery shopping at Safeway anyway, what you might want to do is have the cashier ring-up the giftcard separately and then use the giftcard to make your grocery purchase.

H/T P ointChaser

Free Popcorn at the Movies

Sat, 11 May 2013 20:48:28 +0100

This will only work if you go to Harkins Theatres, which are mainly in Arizona with a few other locations spread across California, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. Instead of buying tickets, purchase a $25 gift card from the cashier. The gift card will come with a coupon for a free medium popcorn, worth about $5.

Then buy your movie ticket(s) with the gift card you just purchased. This is, effectively, a 16.7% discount on movie tickets if you were going to buy popcorn anyway. Bring in a few beverages slyly stored in your pocket/purse and you've really cut down on the cost of going to the movies.

Watch This Video Before You Even Think About Checking a Bag!

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:51:50 +0100

In 2011, police began secretly filming cargo holds at several Italian airports. About 30 Alitalia baggage handlers were caught stealing on film and another 57 are under investigation.

H/T View From the Wing

Growing Ears and Curing Cancer with 3-D Printing

Thu, 02 May 2013 03:07:21 +0100

Just amazing...

5 Questions with Silver Bullion of Singapore

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:27:51 +0100

Silver Bullion of Singapore is a unique and excellent option to securely and safely store precious metals overseas. The founder of Silver Bullion, Gregor Gregersen, was kind enough to answer a few questions so we could learn more about his company. If you're serious about protecting your families wealth from inflation, currency debasement and confiscation, I strongly encourage you to visit their website at https://www.silverbullion.com.sg

Full disclosure: I received absolutely no compensation for providing this interview. Silver Bullion was not mentioned in my book, because I was, unfortunately, unaware of the company at the time of publication.

1)Tell us about your background and why you started Silver Bullion?
In essence I wanted a secure and stable place to buy and store my own bullion and Singapore was the best jurisdiction for this. Back in 2009 there was no practical way to obtain Silver Bullion so I decided to start the company to fill this need.

2)Is there an advantage to your company being located in Singapore?
Singapore has a long history of protecting private property and laws and never making exceptions even in the face of severe foreign pressure. Today's most of Singapore's incredible wealth is based on the confidence that both locals and foreigners have in this city-state.

Because of this I believe Singapore to be the ideal jurisdiction for bullion storage in case of a repeat of the U.S. Bullion Nationalization that we saw back in 1933. Singapore will not bow to pressure to turn private owned bullion over to a foreign government...as doing so would greatly hurt the very foundation on which Singapore's wealth is based.

Of course the above argument assumes that both the bullion trader and vault provider storing the bullion have no significant foreign (e.g. U.S.) exposure either, as either entity could otherwise be pressured to turn over the bullion.

3)What's your auditing process like? How do your customers know their bullion is really there?

There are 4 key questions that we believe every bullion storage customer should consider

1) How do I know the bullion is indeed stored where it is supposed to?

- First of all our customers own specific, uniquely identified, bullion parcel instead of having claims against generic amounts of Bullion.
- The customer receives a photo of each tamper proof parcel which clearly shows the bullion, weight and Parcel ID. This proves that such a parcel existed at some point in time.
- Furthermore the customer receives an inventory check directly from the vault provider which shows that the specific parcel (and content) is indeed stored at the vault. This proofs that the vault provider (e.g. Certis Cisco - also known as Singapore Auxiliary Police) has such a parcel in storage as per inventory check date. Such a check is provided every other business day.

2) How do I know the bullion was not resold to multiple customers at the same time ?

- Note that each customer knows their anonymous Storage Owner ID as well as the owned parcels numbers.
- We provide a document called the "Parcel Ownership List" to all our customers which lists all parcels and their associated anonymous owner IDs. This system makes it impossible for us to double assign parcel numbers as this would be quickly spotted by either the customers themselves, our accountants or our auditors.
- This list always matches the inventory check from the vault provider as well... thereby the two documents prove that bullion is there and that it was not double assigned.

3) How Do I know the Bullion is genuine ?

- We developed a highly advanced testing mechanism that involves a combined Density, Ultrasound and X-Ray test and we have a full fledged Material Engineer on staff. (Comment by Randall -> No one else does this)

4) How Do I know the Bullion will be safe in case of a nationalization by western (e.g. U.S.) governments ?

We eliminated virtually all exposure to the U.S. In practice this means that:
-Our company has no business exposure, or US employees, in the USA that could be threatened in case of non-compliance with US regulations.
- We store bullion with Vault Providers who similarly have no exposure to the USA. This later requirement means that, unlike almost all other storage solutions, we do not store with the usual large storage companies (such as Brinks & Viamat).

4)How is your company different than some of the bigger gold/silver storage companies like GoldMoney and Bullion Vault?

Where the bullion is stored:
•    Competitors normally do not disclose vault operator details other than the country of storage

How much bullion is available:
•    We show live availabilities and whether bullion has to be ordered
•    Competitors normally hold little inventory and don't show availabilities

That the bullion is indeed at the vault:
•    Clients receive Inventory checks directly from the vault provider(s)
•    Clients receive a photo of each uniquely identified bullion parcel(s)
•    Competitors normally cannot provide such transparency

That we did not sell the same bullion multiple times:
•    All parcels and their ownership (by anonymous ID) are made available to all customers, making multiple sales impossible
•    Competitors normally cannot provide such transparency

That we plan for a repeat of the 1933 US Gold nationalization:
•    How safe will your bullion be if "the US Government were to threaten storage providers with prison terms if stored bullion is not nationalized ?"
•    We continuously re-evaluate and minimize our exposure to such a scenario, not just internally but also in light of our supply chains, storage providers, banks and payment currencies

5)How much of an investor's portfolio should be in precious metals? What should the split be between gold and silver?

I think Investors should first decide how much money they want to keep as a "fail-safe" in case of systemic collapse which is not meant to be traded much (which is what we provide). I say this because some investors want to buy and sell their positions often...in which case they are better of with paper gold / silver as the trade costs are lower.

Once they decide how much they want to invest in long term physical bullion then they can choose between physical silver and gold. Silver tends to be much more volatile and, in my opinion, greatly undervalued whereas gold is the default choice by many. -Personally I have 95% silver and 5% gold by value but that is a bit extreme for most people. I found 50% gold/50% silver or 70% gold/30% silver to be pretty popular options.

-------------------------------------

Thanks Gregor. For more information on Silver Bullion, you may want to read this interview and AsiaOne article:

https://www.silverbullion.com.sg/AboutFounders.aspx
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Business/Story/A1Story20130205-400225.html

Now That's How You Surprise Your Wife or Girlfriend!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:04:53 +0100

Ok Husbands/Boyfriends , try to top this surprise...AJK is the husband and this story is written by his wife. AJK's comments are in [brackets]. If you aren't familiar, Shabbos or Shabbat, is the Jewish day of rest which starts at sundown on Friday and ends on sundown on Saturday. Ok, on to the story...

AJK's YVR Surprise, A Trip Report by His (Much Better) Half

Although, I normally would do all my Shabbos shopping on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, this week AJK offered to do it with me when he got home from work on Thursday night. While I appreciated the offer, I knew that it would mean doing all my cooking late Thursday night, so I tried to graciously say that I could do some of the shopping without him so at least I could start my cooking. After all, I didn’t want to discourage this display of husbandly help but I definitely didn’t want to be up till two in the morning cooking. In response, AJK seemed very disappointed at the suggestion, so figuring that he must really want to go to the grocery store, I quickly backtracked and said that I wouldn’t dream of going shopping without him. [I offered to go shopping with her to ensure she wouldn’t start cooking for 8 guests she wouldn’t end up having!]

After a long day of running errands on Thursday, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the couch. At about 6:00 p.m., AJK walked in the door and seemed particularly excited for our trip to Shop Rite. Completely taking me by surprise, AJK announced that I needed to quickly pack a bag because instead of going to the grocery store, we were going to a lodge in upstate PA for the weekend—a place we had once been before for an extreme zip-lining course. I was completely floored. I wasn’t expecting any sort of surprise until Saturday night. My first response, though, was that it would be pretty awkward when our 8 guests came over the following night and no one was home. I was promptly informed that all of our guests had known we were going away since the past Sunday and none of them were expecting to come to us. [Each time my wife invited someone, I immediately left the room and uninvited them with the explanation of what I was planning.] I was dizzy with excitement. I love surprises and this was a big one.

Apparently, as AJK explained, he had found a deal coupon for the penthouse of the lodge which had three floors, was recently renovated, had an indoor and outdoor pool and usually cost $3000 a night. AJK went further and added in some details such as telling me that lots of wealthy people from Long Island rented out this penthouse for their families when they wanted to get away. I rushed to pack for our little getaway. [I made this lodge part up, with all its attendant details, to get my wife to pack for the weekend without thinking we were actually leaving the country.]

As AJK was putting his things into his duffel, he nonchalantly mentioned, “You know what we could do? If you want, we could stop by JFK on the way to the lodge and watch some flights landing and taking off.” While this may sound to some people like it has the entertainment equivalent of watching paint dry, to us, this is a really fun night. [During the weeks prior, both of us had discussed going to an airport for this activity, so I knew it wasn’t going to be that much of a stretch to get her to go along.] Both of us love planes and, according to my husband, there is a very cool lounge past security with a great vantage for watching the large jumbo jets land and take off. He also said that, in order to get access to the lounge (which is past security), he had booked one-way refundable tickets to Hong Kong. Then, when we were done watching the planes, we would just leave the airport and he would cancel the tickets.

AJK was quick to tell me that if I wasn’t up for it or was too tired we could just do this activity a different time. [Rule #1 in surprises: make it seem like their idea!!] It sounded really neat, so I assured him that I was up for it. I told him that I would pack everything for the weekend and then we could just leave it in the car while we went into the airport to make things easier. [This comment I did not anticipate and therefore didn’t plan for, but I had to think quickly on my feet.] “Actually,” AJK responded, “the security agents may get suspicious if they see people travelling internationally without any luggage, so let’s just bring our bags in with us so we don’t get stopped.” [Yes, this is a bunch of baloney, but I needed some excuse to have my wife believe we needed to take our baggage through security with us. My wife would love being surprised, but would not love it if she had no clothes while AT the surprise!] I was so excited that I thought that made sense, so we finished packing, got in the car, and we were off to the lodge with a quick detour through JFK.

We arrived in JFK and got on the Air Train from the parking lot to the airport, but were dismayed when it stopped after just one stop, and the conductor announced that it was undergoing construction and passengers would need to transfer to bus service to the airport. I was quite carefree and kept remarking to AJK that it was lucky we didn’t actually have a flight to catch that night because otherwise this detour could be quite stressful. [Little did she know! Meanwhile, I had been checking my watch constantly.]

After much chaos of packing onto a bus, with what seemed like hundreds of other passengers, and having it crawl at the rate of a handicapped snail to every single terminal, we finally arrived at the Cathay terminal. We walked to the check-in counter where I was quite nervous that they would catch on that we weren’t actually planning on flying to Hong Kong that night. However, the ticket agent just handed us our boarding passes and pointed us towards security. At security I was very relieved that they didn’t choose to question us about our one-way, refundable tickets and we walked right through and straight to the lounge. In the lounge, AJK explained that when they called our flight we would have to leave the lounge and pretend to go the gate. In the first class lounge they personally inform you when your flight is departing so it’d look rather suspicious if you accept that information and then continue to sit there sipping on your ‘livit 15 on the rocks. About twenty minutes later, we heard the boarding call for flight 889 with service to Hong Kong. We reluctantly headed out of the lounge as we had just been informed that we could have Kosher food made for us by the Executive Club chef!

As we walked out, instead of leaving the airport as I thought we would do, AJK mentioned that we should go to the gate and let them know that something had come up and we wouldn’t be on the flight. Apparently, because the refundable tickets he had booked were in first class, they would repetitively page us and may even hold the plane for us until we showed up, especially since they knew we were in the lounge at one point. [I had to tell her something to get her to the gate!]

When we got to the gate, AJK simply handed the boarding passes to the gate agent...but made no mention of us not getting on the plane!? :o

I discreetly asked him what he was doing, and he responded “I’m really desperate to see what the first class cabin looks like on Cathay Pacific,” he said. “Let’s just go on quickly, look around and then I’ll tell them I had a work emergency and we’ll get right off.” At this point, I was incredibly nervous about that idea. I mentioned that I didn’t think they would refund our tickets once we actually checked in for the flight, and I was also petrified that they wouldn’t let us off the plane once we got on and then we’d be the proud owners of $10,000 first class, one-way tickets to Hong Kong. [I told her, “Don’t worry, first class passengers can do whatever they want—even get off the plane if they need to. Ha!]

AJK, however, seemed gung-ho on this idea and quickly started off down the jetway. While I’m up for any adventure, I wasn’t certain this was a smart one, but I dutifully followed him. I did, however, mention that should his idea to get off the plane before take-off fail, I was going on the record that I had warned him against this course of action and would not be held responsible for us ending up in Hong Kong.

As we got on the plane and took a left to first class, no fewer than three flight attendants descended on us and started offering us drinks and warm towels. I, however, clutched onto my coat and carry on as they tried to take and stow it. I kept darting nervous looks at AJK as he gaily snapped pictures of the first class seats (which are the size of small sofas), and the area around the seat (about the size of 4 regular economy rows). Then he actually sat down, allegedly to “see how the seats feel.” As the flight attendants hovered about, I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, “Now! Tell them right now that we have to get off this plane.” He begged me to just sit down, to try and enjoy the experience before we had to get off the plane. Then, my worst fear was realized: the pilot’s voice came on announcing that we were about to pull back from the gate and my heart stopped.

“AJK!” I whispered furiously, “let’s go right this second!” I gripped my coat and bag and charged into the aisle. At that point, he grabbed my arm, pushed me gently into the seat and says, “One second, we’re actually going to Vancouver, which is the stopover this flight makes on its way to Hong Kong.” My heart actually stopped then. I was floored. My brain couldn’t even process this change in plans. Three hours earlier, I had been asleep on my couch. Then, I had accepted that we were going away for the weekend. And now, instead of being trapped hostage on a plane to Hong Kong we were actually willingly on that flight and going to Vancouver one of my favorite cities in the entire world….what?!

AJK was almost delirious in his smugness at having pulled off the greatest coup known to mankind. He had actually gotten me on to the airplane without me knowing that we were even going anywhere. Apparently, he had been planning this feverishly for the past week. The whole charade of feigning nonchalance about whether I even wanted to go to the airport was a piece of acting that definitely deserved more than a nod at the Oscars. I collapsed into my oversized sofa-seat as the fluttering flight attendant buckled me in. I sat there for a good few minutes just trying to process what had just occurred.

A few moments after take-off, when I had finally collected my jaw from the floor of the airplane, the flight attendant asked if we would like to eat dinner at AJK’s seat or mine. Now, if one is not accustomed to flying in first class this question might make no sense at all. However, the way the seats are situated in first class, they open up a table in front of the main seat and there is another seat for a guest across the table. They set our table for us with proper linens and brought our meals.

Now, there is a certain look that comes across the face of every flight attendant forced to serve kosher meals in first class. It is the same grimace someone would give if they were forced to make up a futon for someone staying in the penthouse at the Ritz. It is the grimace of someone who is serving frozen, slimy, half-baked food, wrapped in so many layers of saran wrap you need a machete to get through it, to someone who ostensibly has paid $10,000 for the privilege of being served in your first class cabin. You can tell they are embarrassed to be giving this to you for dinner, and they try everything in their power to try and make it more appealing for you. They beg to serve it on their china, or they place napkins in your lap and bring you wine glasses. Or, in this case, they just bring you so much Jonny Walker Blue Label that they are hopeful you won’t notice that you are eating prison food while the person across the aisle from you is having filet mignon, lobster bisque and Dom. [I think I may have finished half a bottle of Blue Label by the time dinner was done. Though, I must say, the Kosher meal JFK-YVR was of the best Kosher meals I’ve had on a plane.]

After having a lovely meal across from each other, looking out the windows at the sparkling lights 25,000 feet below, the flight attendants offered pajamas (designed by a famous Hong Kong tailor no less), and escorted us to the first class bathroom. Upon returning to our seats, our whole area had been converted into a flatbed made up in beautiful linens and the lights were turned to a calming glow. The beds were wide enough for two people to sit next to each other and therefore were quite comfortable when you were sleeping on it. Once lying flat in bed, your television screen could pop out of the wall and be angled for optimum viewing. [An amenity sorely lacking on LH’s 744 in F with a separate bed.]

We both slept for a few hours [me hoping I wasn’t going to have a hangover] and when we awoke it was time to land. While in the bathroom changing out of our pajamas, the flight attendants unmake your bed and clean up your area before your return. As the plane slowly glided into Vancouver International Airport, I was sad that the flight was over but filled with unspeakable excitement at being in Vancouver.

(not them, but you get the idea)

Dan's Deals.com Forum

The Wonderful Life of Coach Frosty

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:43:48 +0100

Read this...especially if you coach kids in anything.

Uniquely Memorable
by Chuck Culpepper

He sometimes halted practice to have players spend five minutes gazing beyond the giant evergreens to Mount Rainier. He sometimes halted practice to have players go to other sporting fields and cheer on, say, the soccer team. He always halted two-a-day practices in August and instructed players to go help freshmen move into dormitories.

Did you know one of the most remarkable American coaches died on Friday? Did you know that Frosty Westering, who had 32 seasons at Pacific Lutheran without a losing record in any, who never mentioned playoffs or titles to his players but won four national championships and four runner-up finishes on two levels, died at 85 surrounded by his considerable family? Please know. Please, please know.

An airline pilot wrote to the university president. He wrote because the Pacific Lutheran presence on his airplane had taken a routine day and whipped it up into memorable. He wrote because Westering insisted his players respect other people's work. He wrote because that respect included rapt attention to the flight attendants, which in turn included a phenomenal sound that came when the players clicked their seat belts in unison.

He wrote because at the destination gate, the college football players had held back and lined up on two sides in a "go" tunnel so they could give high-fives to disembarking crew.

A janitor wrote to the university president. He wrote because when he came upon Pacific Lutheran's visiting locker room one postgame in Portland, he found the chairs lined up in impeccable order. He wrote because he found the floors and lockers completely free of the normal detritus. He found the place just about spotless.

He wrote because, when he arrived in the room, he found a note on the whiteboard suggesting he go home and join his wife by the Christmas tree.

On a weekday after the "Afterglow," Westering happened upon the man in the wheelchair and invited him to practice. Soon after that, he made the man an assistant coach, and so John Nelson, a quadriplegic Singaporean-American born with a debilitating condition and spinal-cord problems, came to head up the freshmen players. And they, in turn, had to take on responsibilities for his care: dressing him, helping him eat, helping him go to the bathroom. Do you suppose that taught them anything?

By 2003, Nelson had lost count of the times he had appeared as a groomsman in the weddings of former players, reckoning the number beyond 10. He told of a road trip stop at Disneyland when the players determined he should take a ride, so one player hugged him all the way through. During those three days I spent with the team in 2003 Nelson said to me, "There's a reason for this, a reason for the guys coming out to this program, to see somebody who's different. Hopefully, it inspires them. If someone in public needs help, I'm sure they will be comfortable with helping them."

Doctors thought Nelson would have trouble making 30. By 2003, he had made 38. By his death in 2009, he had made 44. At his memorial service, Frosty placed a jersey on his wheelchair.

"He's a great man," my friend said. A great man died on Friday. A great man also lived from 1927 until Friday, and while he lived, oh boy, was he alive.

Read the rest here.